Chicagoguy 2

Wow ! What an ordeal. And to think you were both so well prepared. One great woman you are getting.

My wife and I would have never have come close if we had to go through something like this.

Congratulations !!!

Sorry Yamen Waad. Most of us waited and many complained but you have a good reason for sure. Hope things look better soon !!!

Madison is not a boring place to be. It might be a great advantage to arrive in the morning and leave late afternoon. Taka a class or two. You can

even audit some for no credit so there is no pressure. Maybe even a part time job. Hang out at the library or student union. Plus there are 42,000

students there from around the world. Write now for a catalog at the University of Wisconsin.

Take some driving lessons and you can get all the information you need for many other things because you are in the state capital.

A number of years ago I accompanied a Russian couple and their son along with another American couple.The couple having the interview had almost zero

English skills. But I think the interview person looked at us successful Americans who came along and said nothing during the interview - only later when asked - and thought to herself that this couple would never be a burden to the U.S. in the future.

And interviewer was correct

But any interview can be a ####### shoot - in my opinion.

Try and rehearse your answers after reading posts here. Try and appear confident and maybe not so cheerful and chatty if you were before. Just smile a little. Also, it is not best to add details unless asked.

This is how I look at it, when you read the instructions provide the information

they are requesting. If you feel that the information your providing is satisfying

the requirements do it!. I did not front load my petition, So, I read the instructions

about 10 times to make sure that I was supplying the information to supplement the application and submitted it without any problems. Working for the federal government, Ive learned

that the instructions are pretty specific, if you supply the information they

are requesting you shouldn't have any problems. Because you meet the application

requirements. Good Luck! but,every embassy is different. So, check out specifics for

the embassy you will be using.

A number of years ago we had a member here who worked at visa center New Hampshire ? or somewhere in the N.E. He was also applying for himself at that time. He said same as Doug. Just send them what they ask for. Follow the instructions. It is actually annoying when they get these big packages because they have to work at taking it all apart.

Probably did not like my indexed 3 ring binder much.

My wife goes back to Russia yearly and does all her doctoring there. If something came up and was not an emergency she would go home again. 1 round trip plane ticket about $ 1000. One hospital admission and tests [ need someone else's help with that ? ]. My wife who passed away almost 8 years ago had hospital bill of 1.2 million. My wife will soon have Obamacare as an extra precaution.

BE CAREFUL OF MEDICINE IN AMERICA !

If you have the money you should try an experienced immigration lawyer.

As a side note I do get SS now. If I die my foreign wife will receive 1/2 of my then current benefits BUT only after we are married 10 years.

You should find a lawyer very soon. Now is not the time to be cheap and save money. Things are happening now that might come back to haunt you latter if not

handled correctly. Follow other advice here.

Mucho,

I visited her in Moscow 1st time and then met in Moscow 2nd time and took a trip together to Turkey. She had no illusions about U.S. but in fairness to other future spouses wherever they come from maybe they could have a peek first.

I know that the 90 day period we all have after arrival is not supposed to be a trial period but maybe there is some way to make it one or even longer. Before my wife came here it was very,very difficult for her to get a tourist visa so all we had was the 90 day time frame. Luckily we had no big cultural differences but I can imagine many places in this world where there would be.

It is not like the movies !

Number of years ago one of us who was working at Immigration in Vermont said "Send only what they ask for. Just read the directions". He hated it when overloaded.

Do you have a library nearby ? Many local activities are listed there as well as newspaper.

We had a USCIS employee on a dating site I go to. He had been looking for a wife and ended up with a job in New Hampshire with them. He said these big files just annoy them. I saw when I left out my check for them and they immediately returned all my papers minus my beautiful binder. They use an Acco two hole at the top for themselves. They put smaller things in some type of baggies. He also said "just send them what they ask for and read the directions".

Lucky for me I lost less than 1 week.

We should pin this info somewhere !!

You should check with other people from Brazil before you spend $$ and time for an interview. Many U.S. consulates and embassies won't let you in. In Moscow nobody extra gets through the door. But pictures together can be a help. I had two cameras with me and pictures of us together in both Russia and Turkey. They only asked her 1 question at the interview.

Sorry for mistake. It is just that I ALWAYS have to stand in two different lines and both want different information so I treat them separately in my mind.

You need more time to read and learn how to do this. Simple first mistake is saying you had trouble with Customs. It was most likely Immigration. And with what has happened so far you might want an Immigration lawyer. The might be very serious consequences if you have further trouble.

I understand your immediate plans might be delayed but you need to TAKE YOUR TIME.

No big deal. I did the same. All they do is return it and you re-send it. I lost maybe a total of 4 days.

But they did take it out of my neat looking notebook and rearranged it to their liking.

See bigdog. She will need her own Social Security number for most of these things you are trying to do.

We had member here once who worked in Vermont and he said fancy presentations were annoying.

I understand this post is not helpful but I have been on this forum for about 5 years and we always have the same conversation. It seems to me that Immigration will mostly do what they want to do and we just have to wait. Unless there is a big problem it will happen sooner or later and if there is a big problem you might need a competent lawyer.

There have been times when someone who works there is on forum and they reply that everyone there is working hard but they have their own priorities - not ours. But whatever they are seems to be a secret

Also. I heard one time that they sometimes read posts here.

I think for my wife's interview in Moscow his mind was pretty well made up. He was smiling from the very beginning and only asked one question. Is it possible that others have looked at these applications back in the states and offered an opinion beforehand and the interview is just the last step ? A visual onceover.

Final Thought

Maybe this process isn't always fair. And this is difficult to accept.

I don't understand why there is not more uniformity in these interviews. When my wife had hers I was not there as they won't let me in anyway but her interview was with a man. She said he was smiling and asked her only one question. And woman interviewing the woman next to her was nasty from the get go and told he no and she was immediately reduced to tears.

Maybe it is difference in countries, maybe interviewers are all different personalities, maybe they go by hunches learned from experience ?